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Submitted by
old school dave
a Racer
from Shelby Twp., MI
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2009 | | Favorite Trail: | Potto | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Colorado Cyclist | | Strengths: | Never had a problem with these. Although mine are about 10 years old, or so... | | Weaknesses: | None, that I've ever had. | | Similar Products Used: | Mavic, Shimano, Pulstar | | Bike Setup: | IBIS steel MOJO, Hugi, Race Face, XTR, Avid | | Bottom Line: | I've been riding on mine for about 10 years now, and was informed by the tech at Colorado Cyclist that the hubset that I was having built up for mountain use, was actually a road hub. But I had them build them up anyway. I've been running them on a Rocky Mountain Team Only Vertex (aluminum hard tail) and a Specialized carbon/ti suspention fork (80mm) with no problems at all, and would have to say that these are probably the best hubs I've ridden (20 years experiance). Colorado Cyclist builds up some great wheelsets. My rear tire locked horns with a pretty big branch last year, that bent one spoke and knocked it slightly out of dish, but nothing wrong with the hubs. Maybe the production standards have changed since I've purchased mine. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
lebikerboy
a Weekend Warrior
from North Van
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2009 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Strong hubs, high flanges allow shorter spokes which equals stronger wheels. | | Weaknesses: | I have two sets, one are Hayes/DT the other DT/Hugi. The former are standard lengths while the latter required use of spacers to make the disks centre correctly. | | Similar Products Used: | Hope, Formula, Shimano etc. | | Bike Setup: | Rocky Mountain Blizzard/Santa Cruz Heckler | | Bottom Line: | Great hubs which require a little more finesse to setup and maintain. If you keep the ratchets lubed correctly (I use a sticky fully synthetic spray made by wurth) they'll last just about forever! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Oriol Garrote
a Cross Country Rider
from Barcelona, Spain
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Precision, durability | | Weaknesses: | None as far as I know | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano's XT and LX | | Bottom Line: | I've had one rear hub for several years now and I have no complain at all. I've never had any problems with them. I have the steel cassette version, not the alu one. I was a heavy rider some years ago and had no problems, now I'm a more light weight and smooth rider and this hub is extremely effective. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ken Atkinson
a Weekend Warrior
from Thailand
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Kow Eto | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Jumpots shop | | Strengths: | Looks good, bearings can be replaced from a bearing shop. easy to mantain, very good pickup on ratchit. can change spokes on freewheel side with out tools! | | Weaknesses: | I had a rear hub split, with standard spokes and full suspension, but have had no problem for the last 3 years ( I am 100kg) | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano Tank | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Heckler Hope Mini disks brakes rear gear XTR | | Bottom Line: | They could be stronger, and cheaper, I like the way you can service them without many tools. don't over grease the star ratchit. the sealed bearings can be regreased by removing the plastic covers with a small pin | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Patrick Jonte
a Weekend Warrior
from Indianapolis, IN
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Weaknesses: | Piece of CRAP!! Hub split right down the middle like everybody else. Cheap die cast aluminum hub with spoke holes right next to hub OD, no wall thickness. No way to service the cassette. | | Bottom Line: | Stay away from HUGI products all together FOREVER!! These hubs were actually branded and laced up by Magura. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kenny G
a Cross Country Rider
from Signal Mountain
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Light. | | Weaknesses: | Durability. Lack of ability to handle the forces associated with its intended use. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Mavic | | Bike Setup: | You probably only care about the hubs. | | Bottom Line: | My rear Hugi hub body cracked in half lenght wise after less than 1 year of normal xc use. I might normally say that this is was an isolated, freak occurance - but look at all the similar reviews. Hugi (or DT) need to re-design this product as it is obviously not capable of withstanding the forces of normal cycling. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
s
a Cross Country Rider
from oxford ma
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | magura | | Strengths: | its light. | | Weaknesses: | ripped two hub shells apart. Dt warrantied it twice | | Similar Products Used: | nothing similar used since other hubs did not break | | Bike Setup: | 2004 enduro set up with xc stuff, I dont jump studd just pedal and try to get my heart to stop | | Bottom Line: | The magura wheelset I bought came with ST 240 hubs. The rear shell split. dt warrantied it, I laced it up and road 3 times with broken wrist. the hub split again. Not sure if I am gonna lace this hub up again or try something else. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill Phillips
a Weekend Warrior
from Tucson, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | National Trail South Mountain Phoenix AZ | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Sold on Bike | | Strengths: | Reputation | | Weaknesses: | Broke after a little over 1 year of casual use. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT and XTR | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Epic S-works | | Bottom Line: | I used to race hard tails before now and always used either Shimano XT or XTR and never had a failure. The Hugi 240S came on my Epic and it actually broke after a year of casual rides. Not only that, I probably only rode it 20 times.
I was also dissapointed that the make you pay for the shop to unlace the hub and send it to them. Next time, I would apply that money to switching back to XTR. I don't have any confidence in this hub now and I don't want to get stuck out in the middle of the desert again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Fleury
a Weekend Warrior
from Victoria BC Canada
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | everywhere | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$360.00 | | Purchased At: | Brentwood Cycle And Sport | | Strengths: | Everything sounds looks works great | | Weaknesses: | havent found it yet(except price) | | Similar Products Used: | chris king shimano and real | | Bike Setup: | Orange Zero trials set up avid juicy 7 rhino light rear wheel hs33 | | Bottom Line: | lil pricey but its pretty awsome everyone should buy it | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Del Sharp
a Cross Country Rider
from Vail, Breckenridge, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Two Elk (or any trail near Vail) | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Pedal Power | | Strengths: | Reliable, smooth, bulletproof, servicable and the clicking rear hub makes riders in front of you anxious. | | Weaknesses: | The old ratchet system failed. (I bought my hubs new in '95 when the Trek Y came out.) | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano | | Bike Setup: | 20" Trek Y-22, Kooka cranks, Specialized ti bb, Kooka levers sub 24lb; 20" Cannondale Raven, Sweet wings 25.5lbs. | | Bottom Line: | The Hugi's were built up by Pedal Power when I bought the newly introduced Trek Y bike in '95. In the second season, the ratchet system failed. It was replaced with the updated system which was quieter.
After a few years I flat spotted a rim (bunnyhop over a curb came up short) and I had Pope at Mountain Pedaler lace my Hugi's up with ti dyed spokes and Mavic 217's. Over the years I've broken nearly a dozen spokes, but the wheels have remained rideable even with v-brakes. After ten years of abuse, I'm passing them onto my wife so that I can build up my new Tracer I found on ebay with disc brakes.
As a cross country rider, I always liked the trademark sound of Hugi's and the way riders tend to move to the side of the trail when they hear me coasting behind them. I built up my Hugi/ti wheels for way less than what a pair of Crossmax's cost back then and they were lighter and cooler, too.
Hugi's aren't expensive and they're light, too. I have complete confidence in them, but I usually have my bike serviced every spring, too. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Geoff Husband
a Cross Country Rider
from Brittany, France
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Looks? Qudos? | | Weaknesses: | Failed hub | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano (all types) Campag | | Bike Setup: | Touring bike (sorry) | | Bottom Line: | 2000 miles of gentle loaded touring on road and the rear flange failed taking three spokes with it. If it's important to you all the comments on sprockets welding on etc are also correct. DT didn't want to know about either fault telling me it wasn't designed for touring. I run a cycle holiday company with loaded touring bikes running hundreds of thousands of miles (www.bretonbikes.com) and I've had a few Shimano freehub bodies fail
but otherwise nothing in 10 years. Shimano Alivio is infinitely better than the DT's... I have contacts with a tandem manufacturer and he's stopped using them because of the failure rate.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Porcupine Rim, Moab | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Colorado Cyclist | | Strengths: | Light, Well Made | | Weaknesses: | Very difficult to service. "Tooless" concept is a joke, and specialized toolkit is expensive and incomplete. | | Similar Products Used: | Chris King, Shimano Dura-Ace/XTR hubs | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Superlight with Colorado Cyclist hand-built disk wheels (on the Hugi hubs). | | Bottom Line: | These are lightweight and have proven to be durable. That's the good part. Now, the bad part. All hubs, no matter how durable, need to be serviced occasionally, and servicing (dissasembling, cleaning, re-greasing) these hubs is a huge pain.
Hugi claims that the rear hub supports "toolless" partial disassembly (enough to service the ratchet drive, but not the bearings) - don't believe it. In order to service the rear freewheel/ratchet drive, you have to remove the axle end-cap (or "adapter", in Hugi-speak) and the rotor (the part that carries the cassette). Both of these are press-fit onto the axle, and thus can be removed without tools, *in theory*. Here's the reality: The end-cap/adapter will almost always require, at a minimum, an axle vise to get off. Axle vises are cheap, so this is no big deal, but it already throws the "toolless" idea out the window.
The rotor is much worse. I can almost guarantee that, if you have been using your hubs for a while, you will not be able to remove this "by hand," and the alternative is to use a removal adapter, which is part of the toolkit (which costs $85) and which must be used in conjunction with a gear puller, which is not included in the toolkit and will run you another $35 (more, if you want a decent-quality one - mine cost $100).
So, doing even basic service on these hubs will most likely require a $100+ investment in tools. Contrast this with Chris King hubs, which can be serviced to a similar degree with the help of two 5mm allen wrenches.
Bottom line: If you want hubs you can maintain, get Chris King. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ride Biker
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Cruz, California
Date Reviewed: July 17, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | My non-disc '02 240's are lightweight and smooth. So far, everything is fine. | | Weaknesses: | I wouldn't call this a freeriding hubset. | | Similar Products Used: | various Shimano hubs | | Bike Setup: | '02 Superlight, Avid Ultimate brake/lever, XT drive train, Fox float suspension, Thomson seatpost/stem, Hugi 240/Mavic 517. | | Bottom Line: | I have had no problems riding these hubs in the dirt for 20 miles, 2-3 times a week for a year. I have performed the no-tools maintenence 3 times (just before winter, mid winter, after winter) using the grease that DT-Swiss promptly sent me for free. Each time, the hub just popped apart with little effort. After the no-tools maintenence the freehub is silent for a good 6 weeks, then you will start to hear the typical freewheel clicking, which is fairly quiet for another 6 weeks. Then it sounds like a Shimano, just clicking. The louder the freewheel sound, the closer you are to performing maintenence. It takes an hour, some solvent, q-tips, and Hugi grease. I wouldn't try to bash this hubset, these are cross country hubs. Although they are worth it, they are a little too expensive. Minus 1 value chili! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
axel
a Cross Country Rider
from yakima
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | skyline | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | sagebrushcycles | | Strengths: | every thing | | Weaknesses: | took a long time to break in the front hub i guess the front hub was so tight just because of the grease because the hub was smooth as butter | | Similar Products Used: | all shimano and rode some phill woods on a friend bike | | Bike Setup: | kona roast | | Bottom Line: | after a billion peddal kicks the hub still works unlike the shimano freehubs that i blow up in a week or so. for every step up in shimano you get one more week to tear the free hubs to pieces.so spend the money and get the hubs that work | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael
a
from Oakland, ca
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Coe | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Light..looks cool | | Weaknesses: | I went to change the casette this weekend and the damn thing is welded onto the hub....I've never had this problem with any other hub before | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Campy, Phil hubs.... | | Bottom Line: | I shoulda gone with the Chris Kings...
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom B.
a Weekend Warrior
from Baltimore, MD
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | bikeusa.com | | Strengths: | Light weight | | Weaknesses: | Alloy freehub body gets badly notched from cogs
self-destructing freehub
not user serviceable without $$$ of special tools | | Similar Products Used: | regular Shimano stuff | | Bike Setup: | Litespeed Palmares, 9-sp D-A | | Bottom Line: | Worst cycing product I have ever used.
I built up this set of Hugi 240's with Sun ME14A rims, DT 14/15 rear drive side, 15/16 elsewhere, 32h, alloy nipps. Wanted to indulge myself with trick wheels for the new high-end frame. They were truly light, and I think, better overall than any of the overpriced "boutique" wheels out there.
BUT, those Hugi 240's were a terrible choice! When I first got the parts in the mail, the seal on the front hub was so tight I could barely turn it by hand (the rear was fine). Sent it back and Hugi said give it a chance and it should loosen up. OK, it did get a lot better, but never great. I think the press-fit on all the parts is prone to lots of drag.
Then after about 3 months of light use, the rear hub started clicking and popping. Spoke to Hugi on the phone and then sent them the whole wheel. They replaced all the internals (some sort of redesign from when I got mine?) and things were OK again for another year or so of light use.
Then came the last straw: a Thanksgiving day ride that turned snowy for the last hour or so. It took a couple of days to clean up the bike, and when I did, the freehub had seized. I got it to turn (barely), but it was toast. And of course, without the $200 of special Hugi tools you can't do a blessed thing to these hubs.
I'm through with these hubs. I just ordered a set of D-A hubs from Nashbar for $140 and I've stripped down the wheels to reuse the rims. I'm going to send these back to Hugi (4th return trip for them!) and describe the debacle. I'll report back with any noteworthy results.
What a lousy product. I feel like a real tool for wasting my money on these. If I had it to do over again, I would either have spent the extra bucks to get Chris King or just gone to tried and true D-A right away. Live and learn.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Billy
a
from Huntersville, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: January 7, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | the wheel | | Strengths: | light, work well w/ hope M4 disc | | Weaknesses: | freehub splines just striped out on the last three rings | | Similar Products Used: | shimano, dt swiss, shimano | | Bike Setup: | 99' GT XCR 1000, Hope M4 Disc, Black Super air 120-100mm, chris king head set, xtr, RACEFACE Next LP cranks, RACEFACE TI BB, Mavic X-317 w/ hugi 240 disc | | Bottom Line: | they were working great, no problems occured untill i took the cassette off for service. I had to pry the cassette off of the freehub! The last three rings on my XTR9-Speed cassette had stripted the splines on the freehub. Waiting on warranty. i should have gone wih the chris kings. I thought these were good hub, there just a waste of money. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joel VT
a Cross Country Rider
from Brunswick, Maine
Date Reviewed: August 23, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | back country expressway | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | bath cycle | | Strengths: | pretty, light, good engagement. | | Weaknesses: | noisy, weak! | | Similar Products Used: | stock shimano paralax hubs | | Bike Setup: | 1997 cannondale f700, with a 36 hole mavic 517, and the hugi hubs in the back | | Bottom Line: | it broke. the whole thing loosened up so i could move the wheel back and forth. after 2 months waiting for new parts, it loosened up in a week. i don't know if its just my hub, but i pissed, cause this was a $150(used, sort of) hub! grrrrrr. from what i've heard, these are good hubs, so its probly just mine, but i still mad. if you're looking at these hubs, make sure they're in good condition, because they cost a whole lot to repair. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Arthur
a Racer
from Larkspur, Colorado, USA
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Given to me | | Strengths: | Swiss/European precision
Durability
Smoothness and stability | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Phil Wood
Wood, he said wood........ | | Bike Setup: | Classic traditional lugged steel units, 32x3X wheels | | Bottom Line: |
So, what am I doing wrong? Oh, I know, I didn't have the Hugi hub built all radial and inferior like, on some bogus rim by someone who has dropped more acid than Heinz has tomatoes and looks it but builds dream wheels that are supposedly speedy, based on psycho-delic postulations running through what is left of his burned-out brain while he still listens to Jerry knock out some mindless rifts......... Jerry's dead, dude.
No, when given a set of the Hugis, I built them on a super strong set of traditional rims (Mavic SSC's)in a proven and ballistic 32x3X/14-15 manner and have never had to look back or down. Well, almost. Because I have never experienced a better hub per se. Sometimes with the Hugi's you need to look down to actually remind yourself that a set of wheels are underneath you. And, in light of a set of Phil Wood (Wood, he said wood) and some Pellisier's, Campy too, that says a great deal.
Incredibly smooth and solid. The wheels, no surprise hardly have ever needed additional truing and to date and even then, just a slight tweak, and no broken spokes after what...., about 20,000 miles. Go figure. Shifting is as good as it gets, actually better. Must be doing something wrong.
Hey Dude, got any acid, man.....?
Oh, wankers who complain about the higher than average ratchet noise must not be aware of the grease hole inside the axle (more incredible Swiss precision) which is fed via a needlepoint grease fitting into the axle, with one end plugged by, of all things, a Q-tip. Have successfully used the thinner and highly effective Phil Wood (Wood, he said wood) grease - a little dab'll do ya (babe) - for years on these and it quiets them down to a purrrrrrrr.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tijmen
a Racer
from Zaandam-Holland
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | bearings | | Weaknesses: | freewheel, noisy and price | | Bottom Line: | Freewheel broke when I was 200 miles away from home. bought the hub especially for low-maintenance and reliability | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
rodney
a Cross Country Rider
from ridgway, colorado, usa
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | telonics, laguna beach | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | gifted | | Strengths: | strong, durable, light,loud, beautiful | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | xtr, xt, mavic, campagnolo record, dura ace | | Bike Setup: | gt zaskar le xtr, mavic 517 rims, dt double butted spokes | | Bottom Line: | i started hammering mountain bikes in 1989, after hammering road bikes for about 20 years. i've totalled at least half a dozen hubs, road and mountain, of various brands and models, but i'll ride this hubset forever. a friend built it up himself with mavic 517 rims and gave the wheels to me when he moved to texas (where he gave up bikes in favor of golf and procreation). i've ridden them for nearly 5 years on three different bikes. i've had the rear serviced twice, by tim breen in grand junction, colorado (the absolute BEST hugi man alive). i've done nothing to the front hub, although i had to replace the rim and spokes when another friend, after borrowing the bike, left the wheel lying in a parking lot, where it got RUN OVER!!!! by a drunk in a dodge ram truck. both before and after the ram truck incident, i've ridden scores of 13,000 foot single-track cols through scree, rain, snow, ice, mud, rivers, streams, etc... I've ridden thousands of miles across desert sand and butt pounding rock. i've ridden decomposed shale, decomposed sandstone, decomposed granite, silt, clay, gypsum, bentonite, kneisses, schists, marble, limestone, etc... i crushed all of it under these wheels, with the hugi's whining incessantly. i love the sound of this freehub screaming on a fast descent. at 48, my legs,butt,back, neck, shoulders, arms and wrists are all fried, but the hugi's, like life itself, just keep on spinning. sorry some of you guys wound up with lemons. that's life, i guess. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben
a Cross Country Rider
from Silver City, NM
Date Reviewed: January 28, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Signal Peak Course | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Twin Sisters Cyclery | | Strengths: | Weight, Warranty, etc. | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, white industries, ringle | | Bike Setup: | Da Vinci FS, Icon, Dean Ti, SRAM, Cane Creek, Avid, IRC, Delta, Action Tec Ti, IRD, Race Face, etc. | | Bottom Line: | Lightweight, low sound, great feel. Really lightened my bike, I bought the 240's to replace my stock shimano's and lost a ton of weight. These roll really smooth, no problems yet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeffrey
a
from Nokomis, Fl
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Dave's Wheels | | Strengths: | None that matter | | Weaknesses: | Complete front hub failure | | Similar Products Used: | Chris King, Phil's, White Ind. ... | | Bike Setup: | Seven Cyclocross | | Bottom Line: | I have the 240's built up by Dave's wheels and I use them as my road wheels. The front hubs right side flange actually tore open about 35 degrees around. This happen while the bike was in the storage stand! Evidently there was a defect that with time let go. 6 spokes came completely out. Weird freak failure. I will not be using this brand of hub again. If I had been riding and this happened I could have been killed. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kurt
a
from Berkeley, CA
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Coast Range Singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$225.00 | | Purchased At: | Came w/ bike | | Strengths: | Smooth bearings | | Weaknesses: | Star Ratchet blows out | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Phil | | Bike Setup: | Tandem, cross country | | Bottom Line: | The current design Hugi rear hub (DT) has had numerous problems. DT redesigned the star ratchet mechanism to reduce its noise level during freewheeling. This ruined the design - it cannot take high torque loads. I went through three on my mountain tandem before switching to a Shimano tandem hub. I met several others on single bikes (read much lower torque loads) who experienced the same failures. I finally upgraded to Phil Wood (four double-pawls) which has not failed me yet.
Union Frondenberg used to make the old Hugi hubs that were very loud. These, although very loud, work great. I have one on my XC bike and one on my road tandem. They work great. But since they are no longer made, it's moot.
Avoid the DT Hugi rear hubs unless you enjoy rebuilding wheels!
PS But I love DT spokes! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ken DeMarce
a Racer
from Atlanta
Date Reviewed: November 23, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Windridge Farm | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$350.00 | | Purchased At: | MTBR | | Strengths: | Ultra light, quiet | | Weaknesses: | None really but they do require frequent cleaning and lubing. Pricey but the good stuff usually is. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XTR, Rolf | | Bike Setup: | Marin Team, all light weight race stuff | | Bottom Line: | These hubs have lasted an entire racing season and I train on them too.
Cleaned them after my last race and found the rear drive side bearing dragging a bit. I intended to replace the one bearing and casette body seal myself but when I called DT Swiss to buy the parts they said ship the whole wheel to them and they would service if for FREE since they have a 3 year warranty.
The bottom line is: (1) Keep the rear hub clean and regularly lube the star ratchets and these babies will not disappoint. (2) DT Swiss has possibly the best warranty service I have ever seen for a bike product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Pat
a Cross Country Rider
from Sapporo
Date Reviewed: November 10, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Smooth Bearings | | Weaknesses: | Read hub is terrible--ratchets blow out, and cap is impossible to remove by hand. | | Bike Setup: | 1998 Trek 8900 | | Bottom Line: | I've used these hubs for three seasons now and the ratchets in the rear hub have failed for two of the seasons. This is a MAJOR drawback. What is Hugi doing about it? As you'll see from my report a year ago (below), when the hub blows, you're walking. I was out for a great pre-snow ride today when I got stranded miles from town.
What another guy wrote earlier sounds right: "The shops I took them to for service (three shops) said 25-30% of the Bontrager and Rolf wheelsets were failing due to the Hugi hubs-- that's an incredibly high rate.. . . Since hubs aren't Shimano, parts are harder to come by and must be ordered."
I've been pestering my shop to order me a few spare sets of ratchets, but he has trouble getting them in Japan. Also, none of us can pull off the cap by hand to get at the ratchets. Is there a trick to it? And what is this about using only Hugi grease? Since my hub was serviced just this week, I wonder if the mechanic used incompatible grease. Could that have caused my blowout? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kirk
a Racer
from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Best Performing Hubs on the Market. Customer service of the U.S. distributor and of Dt Swiss. | | Weaknesses: | Have to use their own grease. | | Similar Products Used: | XTR, XT, LX, Ringle, Pulstar, King | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale Caad 4, Fatty Ultra, Full XTR(Hugi Hubs),Ti Bars/Bar Ends | | Bottom Line: | Regardless of what other people are saying, for an XTR equivalent hub, these areby far the best hubs on the market. I have put thousands of miles on mine and they just recently had to be overhauled. With any conventional hub which is exposed to adverse conditions you are lucky if you can get three years out of them and you have to constantly maintian them. Attaining parts for service is harder to do than Shimano but if you talk to Dave at Hugi U.S.A. he will give you the best customer service I have ever seen. I come from Canada, and if you think its hard to get parts in the States, try and get parts up here. Hugi fixed me up right away and my hub works like brand new again. I am aimin to get another five years out of the hubs! If people are having failures, perhaps they do not know that you MUST USE HUGI ROTOR GREASE IN THE STAR RATCHETS which can be obtained from Hugi U.S.A.. This is the only way they will work properly. If your hub is quite it is because there is excess grease in it (note: a possible way to quite them down, but don't use too much as the pawls will stick open). For those of you who have had bad luck with Hugi's, rather than bad mouthing them, get in touch with Hugi U.S.A.. If your shop says their customer service sucks, they are lying to you and right away I would find a new bike shop. In fact, if I bought a bike with Rolf wheels I would expect the shop I bought it from to carry replacement Hugi parts since it is inevitable that hudbs break with time. In fact mybe its not HUgi's customer service that's the problem, perhaps its the bike shop you are a customer of who has some customer service problems. Ask them if they stock Shimano Freehub bodies? and if they do, why don't they stock Freehub bodies and bearings for the other hubs they sell? Hugi's Rule!!!!!!! Don't let anyone tell you differently! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
scott
a Weekend Warrior
from santa cruz, ca
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | this one | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | spokesman | | Strengths: | Ive got the 240s, and they're light light light, real pleasing very quiet sound, easy to maintain, and I like their looks( after lightly sanding off the logos) | | Weaknesses: | none in my experience | | Similar Products Used: | first set of custom wheels | | Bike Setup: | all goood | | Bottom Line: | I couldn't be happier. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | great looking, light, smooth, QUIET | | Weaknesses: | none, so far | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XTR | | Bike Setup: | Mountain Cycle CXS, SID XL, Easton stem/seatpost, Sella Flite Gel Ti, Mythos XC, Arch Rival 50s, XTR, Syncros stem, 517-db blk-Hugi | | Bottom Line: | Maybe Hugi made two different hubs. I really don't know why ppl are saying the rear hub is loud...quite the contary, I am extremely pleased with how completely SILENT and smooth mine are. This quality is sooo cool. I also find them to be pretty darn light. Aaron, if you read this, I wanna thank you for trading me for these...this wheelset is AWESOME! Thank you so much. 4 chillis because they are quite expensive, but 5 chillies for quality and quiet! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JM
a Cross Country Rider
from Wayland, MA
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Vietnam, Callahan | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | None, this hubset didn't stand up to LX | | Weaknesses: | See Below | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX, XT, Chris King | | Bike Setup: | Fisher Sugar 1 w/ Bontrager Race Lites | | Bottom Line: | Bontrager spec'd King hubs on the Race Lite wheels but then a purchasing manager at Trek decided that all Trek-built wheels (Bontrager, Rolf, etc.) should all have the same hubs -- Hugi won out. Hugi rear hubs stink. Mine failed after two months of riding (when your freewheel fails, you're walking and in my case I was walking miles) and then failed again within 24-hours of being serviced. Warranty took care of it, but Hugi hubs turned this from a great wheelset to a lousy one--bring back the Kings! The shops I took them to for service (three shops) said 25-30% of the Bontrager and Rolf wheelsets were failing due to the Hugi hubs-- that's an incredibly high rate. Trek instructs the shops to grease and loctite the bearings, but that fix doesn't work (lasted 24-hours on my set). Since hubs aren't Shimano, parts are harder to come by and must be ordered. Now have the King hubs and couldn't rate them more highly. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jeremy soltow
a Downhiller
from sea-town
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | black forest | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | bearings are top notch, stiff, light, good looks | | Weaknesses: | none, maybe the price if you get them new | | Similar Products Used: | shimano lx (shiite) | | Bike Setup: | K2 animal dh, maxxis highrollers getting a foes f1 | | Bottom Line: | I got these for a great price used and they are by far the best hubs I have ever used. nothing bad at all. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Uncle Mulga
a Cross Country Rider
from South Australia
Date Reviewed: August 2, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Front hub seems OK | | Weaknesses: | Rear hub never worked from day 1 | | Similar Products Used: | Mavic Crosslink | | Bike Setup: | Fisher hardtail, SID, full XTR | | Bottom Line: | I don't get it! I got these hubs in my Bontrager RaceLite wheelset. The rear hub never worked from the day I got it. First the freehub died, then the (non-adjustable) bearings developed heaps of play. Installing new bearings did nothing. I'm supposed to be getting a new hub, but I'm not particularly hopeful about that being any better. If you look at the RaceLite reviews everybody with these Hugi hubs has had big problems with them. How come there are people here who have good things to say about them??????? Did Trek get a bad batch or what?????Or did Bontrager specifically spec his to be junk?????????? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
SAM
a Racer
from SFO, CA
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | NISENE | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | HUGI 240- QUITE AND BUTTERY SMOOTH/QUITE | | Weaknesses: | NONE | | Similar Products Used: | HUGI COMP.KING-XT-RINGLE | | Bike Setup: | VOODOO - OUTLAND- CAAD 4- SUNN | | Bottom Line: | 1ST- I SEE A LOT OF IDIO...TTTS WHO COMPLAIN...BUT...THESE ARE THE EASIEST HUBS TO OVERHAUL ON PLANET. GRAB THE CASS. AND PULL- DUHHH...COMES THE BODY OFF TO EXPOSE THE GEARS! LUBE THEM OFTEN AND IT OUTPERFORMS ANY HUB- ANY EVEN KING WHICH I ALSO OWN AND IS STCKY AS HELL(FRRRIC-TION). IF EURO RACERS USE THESE HUGI'S IT'S GOT TO BE GOOD. AND IS LIGHTEST TOO! I'VE BEEN USING HUGI FOR YEARS NOW! NEVER FAILED! I LIKE KING'S EXTRA FINE RATCHETING GEARS THOUGH. BUT THESE-HUGI'S ARE SO DAMN SMOOTH, AS BUTTER THAT NOTHING COMPARES. WHEN U GET THEM PUT SOME ENGLUND HONEY GREASE IN THE HUB AND WALLAH...RIDE ON. AND THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY QUITE, YEAH NO ANNOYING WHINE LIKE KING. MY NEIGHBOR DOG HATES THE NOISE AND CHASES ME ALL THE TIME WHEN I RIDE THE KING HUBS! BUT LETS FACE IT, KING ARE NICER LOOKING SPECIALLY ON A DATE IF THAT IS WHY U RIDE! THAT'S WHY I KEPT THEM- HEHEHEHE :)
ALSO...IF U WEIGH 190LB + AND RACE, THEN JUST GET A FREAKINN SHIMANO W/ 36 HOLES RIM, NOT LITE WEIGHT HUBS/WHEELS W/ 28 SPOKES. THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR U, SO DONT! SORRY !!! AND LAST, NO U CAN'T PUT AN LX CASSETTE ON THESE OR ANY ALLOY
HUB, IT'LL CHEW IT UP- COMMON SENSE!
THANX FOR READING:) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
meado
a Cross Country Rider
from denver
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | any | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | light light light | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | XT/LX | | Bike Setup: | Habby Ti
Superfly
titec
Kooka
Ringle
blah
blah | | Bottom Line: | Since there is no category for the new 240s this will suffice.
I have to agree with the dude that destroys hubs. I went thru a couple XTs over a two yr period.
The hubs I have are super quiet and engage instantly. I am no light weight either at 190lbs and do abuse my bikes a great deal.
So far sooooo good! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
seth
a Racer
from Charlotte
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | BMX track | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Crazy freehub body strength, "get outta my way" sound | | Weaknesses: | Aluminum freehub tweaks out and makes switching cassettes an exercise in misery. Pricey | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT/DX/LX rear, TNT | | Bike Setup: | 21-pound rigid carbon Wunderbike | | Bottom Line: | This is the only hub I've encountered that hasn't blown up. I'm the master destroyer of freehub bodies and I was frankly surprised to read some of the crappy luck you guys have had with them. I used to carry a chainwhip, cassette tool, cone wrenches and spare pawls with me on rides (!) because I trashed Shimano hubs so often. I read on some tandem mountain bike review that this was the daddy of all hubs and you could remove the freehub and use it on you 1/4" Craftsman socket drive if it blew out. haha. Just kidding. ANyway, it's held up really well for me and I LOVE the hideous racket it makes. Polite way of letting slower riders know you're about two turns from punting them off in to the weeds. Oh, the bearings are fried after about 5,000mi of ZERO maintainence. That's pretty good I guess. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Allen
a Cross Country Rider
from Amarillo, Texas, USA
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Great looks...great sounds (I like the freewheel sounds), until the death rattle. | | Weaknesses: | The death rattle came at an early age....what's with the ratchets in these things??? | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT and other hubs of lesser cost, in other times. | | Bike Setup: | Homegrown Factory (2k)out of the box. | | Bottom Line: | What looked like a dream set-up has become a nightmare. The freewheel hub has bought the farm. You'd think that, for the cost of this wheelset, you would get durability AND performance. Well, I guess one out of two ain't too bad. I got the Homegrown in January and it has about 250 miles on it...moderate to hard riding. Then I started hearing rubbing sounds while pedaling. Now...no sounds...no forward motion. It's nice to hear Hugi has got customer service, but I'm not impressed with the product. I'll do the warranty trip and sell the wheelset for Mavic/XTR. Function beats the cool factor anyday...Hopefully, the review will lower the pepper factor to one that better reflects the quality of this junk. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
mark
a Racer
from boulder
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Great craftmanship (hell they're swiss) extreamly stiff and well built. Obsulutely bomber freehub mechanism. | | Weaknesses: | Loud freehub. Aluminum freehub barrell chewed up by steel cassette, makes reinstalling and removal of cassette a bear. Have to file the burrs down whenever I switch. Blown bearing. | | Similar Products Used: | XT, Mavic, Suntour | | Bike Setup: | Ti with Manitou Mach5 Sx Ti, XT kit, Race face crank, ATAC pedals, syncros bar, stem and post | | Bottom Line: | I got these at a bike show new for $100 so I'll never complain. I suspect that it was because they had a bad batch of bearing in them (HUGI was there selling them at the show new in the box). One of the bearings get stiff within the first year and I've had to switch out the bearings. Ft. hub is flawless. The freehub mechanism while really solid (they use 8 paws vs. Shimano's 3) is loud and has a hard time competing against Chris King for their silent instant engagement. Happy I got them? hell yea. If I was building another set would I use them? I'd probably use the Kings (although there is like a 3 mo. wait for them)But if I could only buy one pair of hubs to last me forever it would be the HUGI's | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Spike
a Weekend Warrior
from Virginia
Date Reviewed: April 29, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Hey, they look nice!!
Work well, an added plus :)
Can handle a beating,that's for sure | | Weaknesses: | The annoying noice coming from the rear freehub :(
Too exspensive(at least for my budget). I paid 310$ for the hubs ONLY! | | Similar Products Used: | Acera X, XTR, XT | | Bike Setup: | '00 (Y2K) Heckler w/ RaceFace crank,bb,rings, Judy XL. Hayes disc (f&r), Azonic bar and stem, Hugi hubs on Mavic 521,Titec berserkr seat, Fox TC shock(3.5-5" travel).
I would HIGHLY recommend this bike w/ my setup!!!! | | Bottom Line: | I have had NO problems with the hubs. They are pretty ease to re-pack. I have used them for road to 6' drops. No problems yet. I hope to keep that going. The only thing is the noice. It isn't good to ride you dream machine w/ a "grinding" hub!!! I would recommend these to someone who is deaf and whats some high quality hubs that can be used for ANY offroad riding. They are light for disc hubs/heavy for XC !! Make sure you get some nice rims and spokes to go with the hubs(321,DoubleWides,HED etc...)!! Lace them 3X.
I would rather have some Modo's and DeeMax's though!!!
Four Chilies!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
XCC
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Clarita, Ca.
Date Reviewed: April 16, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | San Juan trail | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | reliability, ease of Hub maintenance | | Weaknesses: | haven't found any yet... | | Similar Products Used: | LX-238, XT-Sun 0 deg., Joy Tech-217 (we all make mistakes!) | | Bike Setup: | I've used these on 3 different bikes, from a HT to a FSR, and now an LTS. | | Bottom Line: | After reading all the negative reviews below, I figured I'd put my $0.02 in... All in all, I've used this wheelset for over 4 years now with no problems at all. I weigh 215lbs, ride rough/technical singletrack 2X a week on them and have taken several week long trips on them with never a problem. I make sure I lube the freehub at least monthly with Pedro's Syn-Grease. Considering it only takes 2 minutes to disassemble, clean, and lube the freehub, it's probably the easiest preventative maintenance you can do on the bike, and not doing so just might be the cause of several of the failures listed below. (IMHO) Properly lubed, they're not loud at all, if dry, very loud. This should be a good indication for those below to spend 2 minutes of their time on preventative maintenance, or spend 30 minutes of their time walking out. Remember, grease is your friend... even the mystical XTR will nuke if you don't lube them! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Haoming Chang
a Racer
from Troy, MI USA
Date Reviewed: April 7, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | linton IN | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | my email is supermoose@hotmail.com in case anyone has any questions about stuff ive reviewed, ive noticed that it hastn showed up
front is smoother than hell, rear is superloud :)
really solid engagement, sweet swiss quality and bombproof ness
the fronts are smoother than kings, about the same as ringle and hope
the rears(old skool) spin less than everyones , but the newskool are about the same | | Weaknesses: | if u get a unlucky set....
the rear got dirty on one pair ive ridden so its got a little slower spin time than the others
could be a little cheaper-
| | Similar Products Used: | king, hope, ringle, real, xtr, white ind., etc... | | Bike Setup: | they were on my nasty tripped out spooky darkside, z-2 supermodified abomb/bam, ionic cranx, esp 9.0 sl, syncros ti post/bb/stem, king hs, etc - 22.5 lbs of crotch rocket single trak bike-
*** WITHOUT A SID FORK *** my fork is 3.8 lbs of love | | Bottom Line: | these are actually on my best friend's homegrown, my friends dean and my other buddys slalom bike
2 ofr the guys have the coda labeled version-
they are loud as hell, the old skool 97 or so version- if u dotn like LOUD hubs, DONT buy them-
i like them VERY much, the pair ive ridden extensivly is a 36 hole set built up w/ alloy nips dt 14-15 spokes, and 217/517 rims
althow they are on the hevy side of things ~ 1675 g or so, i raced them dual slalom when my DS bike was down, and they took a BEATING and were still perfectly true- not many XC race wheelsets can handel DH and DS rock gardens...
buy the old skool if u get a chance, they kick ass, my roomate at skool has the new skool hayes labeled ones on his homegrown, nad they're alot quieter- also disc brake too :) the rears on the new skool spin free longer bc of the revamped ratchet mech.
if u have any questions on shop stuff hit me an email and ill help out-
peaceout | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
M J
a Cross Country Rider
from Knoxville, TN
Date Reviewed: March 9, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Clemmer Trail/Lone Mtn | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | *Loud ratcheting noise scares people
*Inexpensive at initial purchase
*Solid feel | | Weaknesses: | None to date | | Similar Products Used: | LX,XT | | Bike Setup: | GT Zaskar, Manitou SX-R | | Bottom Line: | I am a 200+ lb cross country rider who spends as much time as I possibly can on my mountain bike. I would characterize myself as a downhill oriented rider. I have been very tough on my equipment and have broken just about every bike compoment at least once. I bought these hubs laced to WTB rims from a mail order company for $129.00. That was about 2 years ago. Since then I have destroyed one XT hub and 3 LX hubs on my other bike. The Hugi's have over 3,000 miles on them and have needed absolutly "no maintenance". I have waited from them to fall apart but they just haven't. They have a very solid feel when you jump, bunnyhop or slam into something. I also love the annoying sound they make and they way it pisses people off when you pass them. Well, I just built a new bike and was planning on retiring my old one, I guess I should lace these old hubs up one more time. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Irvine, CA
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | didn't last long enough for me to tell what the strengths are | | Weaknesses: | ratchet blew after 5 minutes of riding!! | | Bike Setup: | Brand new Rocky Mountain Element T.O.- it's sitting in my living room unrideable because of these hubs | | Bottom Line: | Well, I just picked up my beautiful brand new Rocky Mountain. I decided to go with the Hugi hubs over the Chris King because the mechanic at the shop said the Hugis were more reliable and the ratcheting mechanism was better. Well, I made a big mistake. These are the new 240's, so they're a little lighter than the Kings, and they're very quiet. Unfortunately, after I got home and hopped on my bike for a test spin, the ratcheting mechanism blew out after five minutes. Unbelievable. I'm on my way back to the bike store first thing tomorrow morning. I'll ask them to rebuild my wheels with King hubs I think... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Greg Ames
a
from Fort Collins CO 80526
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | "Old Flowers Road" | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Strong
Stiff-good power transfer
Mostly indestructable | | Weaknesses: | When the freewheel breaks - It's gone! | | Similar Products Used: | White Industries, Scompany stuff | | Bike Setup: | Klein Additude race, mostly XT, Kooka crand, and some other stuff, judy xc. | | Bottom Line: | "Well, Well, Well, what happened to your bombproof hub their." said a sarcastic friend when the toothed rings in my hub gave up. These hubs are very reliable but they do have an achilles heal. The loud ratchiting older hubs give up sometimes, usually at an inopertune moment. I've seen a few HUGI hubs sold as CODA components. They are the same just much cheaper, I saw a Mavic X222 rim with butted spokes and such a rear hub for 150.00! They make a quiet freewheel now but has not been around long enough for a review. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Richard Chu
a Cross Country Rider
from Georgia
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Bottom Line: | I posted a review almost exactly a year ago concerning the Hugi hubs; now that I have ridden with it for a year so here is my opinion. I was deciding between Hugi and King, price was an issue but when you're spending $300+ for hubs MSRP, which I did not, price doesn't seem to be a big issue. Quality and durability was my main concerns since I broke a LX hub which came standard on my previous bike. I found a great deal on a Mavic 517 Hugi Competition wheelset so I took my chances. The competition model versus the sport model is the aluminum rather than the steel axle respectively as according to DT Hugi.
However about 5 months afterwards on a sub 2ft ledge climb my rear hub died. Weeks earlier to this incident I noticed that the hub had become extremely loud. I was pissed so I immediately when home and contacted Hugi. I explained the situation to them and I had the wheel sent off; according to the invoice they replaced almost all the internal under warranty. I greatly admired their customer service and they even send it back to me next day air Saturday delievery by UPS; you just can't beat that with a stick. UPS of course messsed it up so that's another story.
Since that incident almost 6 months ago my rear wheel is quite and running like a nice wheelset should run. I'm 5'8 @ 208 lbs and ride really hard on my bike; I have broken everything on a bike except for the left crank arm and pedals; I'm not talking about cheap components or frames I'm talking about XTR, Intense, etc. MTB components need to become Chu Certified for real testing. The weight issue for the hubs of so minimal so that's not a big issue. I enjoy riding and just like to have fun. I would recommend the hubs to anyone especially those that ride hard. I understand that even the best components on the market have defects but life still goes on. DT Hugi seemed to stand behind their products so was definetly a plus. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom Kenney
a Cross Country Rider
from Reseda, CA
Date Reviewed: February 7, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Nice bearings | | Weaknesses: | Loud, weak ratched mechanism | | Bottom Line: | SAD DAY! My rear hub blew up on Saturday! I guess I have one of the evil incarnations of the Hugi hub. Great while it lasted. I'll give them 2 chilis because the thing didn't sieze up, and I made it back to the trailhead with minimal walking. Probably gonna go back to Bullseye hubs after this fiasco.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim Beau
a Cross Country Rider
from SoCal
Date Reviewed: January 26, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Santa Ana River Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Strong; ratchet -- allowing for instant engagement!; noise (MUCH quieter than the Kings or ratchet type hubs) | | Weaknesses: | None that I'm aware of .... yet. | | Similar Products Used: | Alvio; XT; Bontrager; Chris King | | Bike Setup: | '99 Mantra Comp -- RaceFace cranks; LX front/XTR rear derailers; XTR cassette; Mavic 517 rims; Magura "Tomac" brakes. | | Bottom Line: | These hubs, laced to Mavic 517's replaced the stock Bontragers. I blew-up the front rim and fried the rear hub (both were but 11 months old). The spoke count is higher (if they are heavier than the Bonty's, I can't tell), thus provide a stiffer feel. Handling has improved over the Bontys. The hubs work perfect. I am especially pleased with the rear. The ratchet mechanism really helps. It might seem like such an insignificant thing, but it really does make a difference. During technical riding (especially climbing) it's nice to have zero delay/slop between the cranks and cassette. I purchased these from the market place....they were take-offs....so, their value rating is skewed. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom Kenney
a Cross-Country Rider
from Reseda, CA
Date Reviewed: December 9, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Very strong, very fast, silky smooth bearings, low maintenance | | Weaknesses: |
Slightly heavy rear (4 bearings), LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS! | | Similar Products Used: |
XTR, XT, Bullseye, Winners | | Bike Setup: |
Klein Pinnacle, XT/XTR | | Bottom Line: | This is partly a follow-up to my earlier review of the front hub. I liked the front so much I bought the rear to replace an XTR rear hub. These hubs have since carried me through some of the roughest terrain in California, and some off-road touring with 40+ lbs on the bike. I have not had to do any maintenance in over 1 year of riding, and somewhere between 8K and 10K miles. The freehub mechanism is the LOUDEST, most obnoxious one on the market - it helps to alert hikers of my presence, but is very annoying to them and me. I'd give them 5 chilis but for that infernal noise, and the fact that the rear is kinda heavy. By comparison, Bullseye rear hubs are much lighter, and the bearings are almost as nice. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jimmy Palmquick
a Racer
from Miami
Date Reviewed: December 5, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Hard Rock Ocala Fl | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
*Bullet Proof
*Strong flanges for radial lacing
*Loud rachiting mechinism can alert other riders that you are comming | | Weaknesses: |
*Loud Rachiting mechanism can alet other riders that you are comming | | Similar Products Used: |
Chris King
Shamano XTR | | Bike Setup: |
Trek 9800 SID, Sl | | Bottom Line: | An absolutely bullet proof hub that has worked perfectly for more than three years. Currently I ues them on training wheel set because they can take be ridden day in and day out with out any worry of failing. Their only down fall is that there are a small number of hubs that are lighter then they are (Chris King) but I believe these are perfect for their longevity. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
RobInfo
a Cross-Country Rider
from Downingtown, Pa
Date Reviewed: November 17, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
French creek | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Bearings, they sure sound stout when free-wheeling. Easy maintenance. | | Weaknesses: |
racheting mechanism | | Similar Products Used: |
Shimano XT | | Bike Setup: |
Rocky Mountain Element Race | | Bottom Line: | I'm disappointed with the rear hub. First, I have the Hugi sport hubs, I'm not sure what the differences are, and certainly some components of the hubs are lighter-duty than their top-end hubs. Weaker parts sounded like a good explanation last february when the rachets failed (leaving me with a fun 45 minute walk in the snow!). The shop replace the rachets with the ones from the top-end hubs since they were all that was available, for $70 bucks, ouch. Two nights ago, bam, the rachets go again WTF! Seems like a serious design problem here. Before I flame Hugi too bad, I'm gonna contact them to see what they'll do about if, there's no way I'm shelling out money for new rachets. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Barry
a Weekend Warrior
from nj
Date Reviewed: August 28, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
rocky downhill | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
service from hugi, strong shell, never need a new hub. | | Weaknesses: |
Ratches are horrible. | | Similar Products Used: |
shimano, mavic, I have broken mavic, and about 6 shimano hubs. I rode on king hubs but did not like them. | | Bike Setup: |
santa cruz heckler. | | Bottom Line: | After 5 months the ratchets went dead on me. Two weeks later I had new ones. I would not purchase this hub again because ratches are expensive ( and I work in a bike shop, so I would imagine they would be about 50$ msrp) and I need something reliable, and a hub that lets me pedal up stairs without haveing any doughts in my mind that it might strip, and send me back down. I would reccomend carrying a set in your bag while you ride. Hey look at the bright side, it is a faster fix than a flat. I hear phil wood has a very well designed hub | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Pat OBrien
a Cross-Country Rider
from Sapporo, Japan
Date Reviewed: August 23, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Shirahata Yama | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Reputation | | Weaknesses: |
Ratchet Mechanism! | | Bike Setup: |
'98 Trek 8900 with Hayes disks | | Bottom Line: | Bad news for Hugi hubs: I blew my ratchet mechanism on a trail last week, and that totally sucked. I never expected that to happen.I'm 185 lbs. and ride semi-hard, so I never expected expensive hubs with about seven months of trail wear on them to blow. But I cranked on them one morning to climb and nearly went over the bars as the pedals spun madly but not the rear wheel. Hugi (and Hayes and Trek) need to think long and hard about the design. For over $2,000, a bike needs to be more dependable way out there in the wilderness (there are BEARS here in Sapporo!)I don't even want to try to go through the Japanese distributor to get in touch with Hugi to find out what happened. But I expect some public admission from Hugi that they've got a serious problem. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Seamus
a Downhiller
from Ireland
Date Reviewed: August 5, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
they sound good when your bombing down a hill | | Weaknesses: |
ratchet mechanism wears down too fast I get about 6 mounths out of them | | Similar Products Used: |
hope big em hub | | Bike Setup: |
hayes breaks. monster T
and a fox rx shock sentie DH frame
321 disc mavics rims | | Bottom Line: | you can get better hubs for around the same price | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott
a Weekend Warrior
from Granville, Oh
Date Reviewed: July 6, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Tough, Keeps on rollin | | Weaknesses: |
Sound becomes irritating | | Similar Products Used: |
Low end Shimano | | Bike Setup: |
Trek Y-11 entirely upgrade, Judy XC w/ speed springs and hard body | | Bottom Line: | I have not had them long but for the time I've had them there awesome. I bought them used from a guy that used them for 2 yaers so they seem to hold up well | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Flying Pig
a Racer
from Phoenix, AZ
Date Reviewed: June 1, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Customer service. | | Weaknesses: |
Weak ratcheting mechanism or poor quality control. | | Similar Products Used: |
Chris King
Nuke Proof
Shimano
Machine Tech | | Bike Setup: |
Tandem -- Ventana Full Suspension | | Bottom Line: | I purchased this hub because everyone said it was the strongest hub around and could
easily handle the loads and torque applied by a mountain tandem. They were wrong.
The first time I climbed a steep hill in the granny gear with another strong rider, the ratcheting mechanism blew, and we were dead in the water. Had to walk back. DT/Hugi repaired it and said it should not happen again, but several others in this review have had the same failure. Sounds like a basic design problem or serious quality control problem. Now I am nervous anytime I climb a real steep hill. I asked DT/Hugi if they had a rated torque specification for the rear hub, and they did not. This means that they do not even test the hubs under load before they ship. I estimate a tandem team can put out 400 ft lbs of torque. Phil Wood claims there hub is rated at over 800 ft lbs. Next time I'll go with a Phil. I've heard nothing bad about the Phil Woods except that they are on the heavy (and durable) side. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kai
a Cross-Country Rider
from Stuttgart, Germany
Date Reviewed: May 27, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
endless singe tracks in the vosges, france | | Duration Product Used: |
more than 3 years | | Strengths: |
Looks, sound, maintenance without tools possible, weight (with aluminium rotor) | | Weaknesses: |
sound (for your riding buddies), ratchet mechanism wears out to fast, expensive | | Similar Products Used: |
93' XT, Suntour, 99' LX | | Bike Setup: |
Serotta T-Max (totally rigid), Hot Chili Full suspension (96 Judy DH, Noleen NR2) | | Bottom Line: | I rode two Huegis on my bikes, both of them where performing flawlessly until the teeth of the freewheel flattenend after about 7500km and 9500km (in the middle of nowhere, so i had to make an emergency repair tying the sprocket to the spokes). If I had the right spare parts with me, I could have repaired them on the trail without any tools. But who has? Got the spare parts very fast, repaired them on my own (only use the special grease for the ratchet mechanism), back on track two days later. Less then 10000km is not enough for such an expensive hub, won't buy them again. But if you are prepared and take the spare parts with you, a worn out ratchet mechanism is repaired faster than a flat. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alan Chesterman
a Weekend Warrior
from Banchory, Scotland
Date Reviewed: April 26, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Bogendrip | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
Strong hub for high torqe heavy weights (I am 200 lb 6ft 4ins) | | Weaknesses: |
Terminal slip from drive discs. Bike unrideable 3 times in middle of nowhere. Not funny. Also crap cheap bearings.
4 times back to shop unable to fix. 70 quid lighter and still no hub. | | Similar Products Used: |
Shimano STX and LX are cheap and reliable but freehub not up to heavyweight torque on really steep stuff.Hope TI OK but very expensive. Better since new stronger hub body (split the first one), also need steel axle (sheared an aluminium one) | | Bike Setup: |
GT Zaskar LE
Bomber Z2's
Mavic D521 DH.Also run a Dale super V 1000 | | Bottom Line: | Best hub I've had until the drive discs and bearings failed.I am sure ny hub can be fixed with the right bits and knowledgeDoes anyone have an e-mail or a UK address for Hugi so I can get some help. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Buddy
a Downhiller
from Makati, Philippines
Date Reviewed: April 22, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Banawe rice terraces | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
This is one tough hub, no cleaning, its totally sealed, and takes extreme pounding. | | Weaknesses: |
None | | Similar Products Used: |
Shimano XTR
Shimano LX | | Bike Setup: |
Intense M-1 Frame, RockShox Judy XL
RockShox Deluxe | | Bottom Line: | Its a Total Killer HUB, NoFRills NO Kills
Extreme Quality | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeremy
a Racer
from Asheville, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: April 9, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Bent Creek, NC | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Bomber in all conditions
Strong
that beautiful sound | | Weaknesses: |
needs cleaning once in a while | | Similar Products Used: |
Shimano XT | | Bike Setup: |
On a specialized stumpjumper m2 pro hardtail
Marzocchi superfly up front
with xtr cassette | | Bottom Line: | All I have to say is that I love that sound my hugi makes when I'm flying down a hill. You can hear me comming like a pack of killer bees. I haven't had any trouble with the hub, but I have taken it apart to clean it once when somebody told me they had trouble with neglect. I think with a bi-annual cleaning, the hugi will take care of all your riding needs. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
steve
a Weekend Warrior
from tokyo
Date Reviewed: April 4, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
shear strength!
smooth bearings
quit | | Weaknesses: |
alittle heavy | | Similar Products Used: |
lx,xt, xtr | | Bike Setup: |
cannondale super-v, answer manitou x vert-r | | Bottom Line: | i haven't had any problems with the hubs. the roll smoother than anything ihave yet to use. they are a tad on the heavy said, but thats okay if you dont want them to fall apart in the middle of a ride. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
A. Chern
a Weekend Warrior
from Singapore
Date Reviewed: March 18, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
The hubs are well built with an excellent finish, expected of Swiss made stuff. The engagement is quicker than that of my XTR's and when new it freewheels soundlessly, but gradually develops a nice quiet hollow buzz as the grease wears in on the ratchets. | | Weaknesses: |
Haven't found any yet but will report again after a couple of months. | | Similar Products Used: |
LX, XTR:
they are both reasonably good hubs, the XTR being particularly smooth (borozon), the disadvantage being non-sealed bearing races.
When the rear hub bearing wore down and dug into the cones, I hd to replace the whole hub. | | Bike Setup: |
Litespeed Ocoee,
Judy SL | | Bottom Line: | Excellent when new, well made but I still have this insecure feeling about it like all new stuff I have tried.
Will review after extensive thrashing.....
But nontheless very nice. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul
a weekend warrior
from Edmonton, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: February 23, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I've read the other reviews, and I just can't relate. My mountain tandem had Hugis on it. Everything worked well until, in the middle of a smooth road ride (finding a stoker for extreme MTB rides is pretty hard), the rear hub started making the most awful sound, even worse than the usual Hugi racket. Turns out the drive side flange had partially ripped off, leaving several spokes hanging. Contacted Cannondale, makers of the tandem, who said too old - too bad. Contacted Hugi in Switzerland. Same answer. Contacted DT/Hugi in the States and was told that they couldn't help me because the hubs were Hugi Germany, not DT Hugi. They did offer to sell me a new hub at a silly price. Finally got Duke's in Toronto (great shop!) to pull strings and replace the hub. New DT Hugi was quiet until it warmed up on a long descent, and now it's as loud as the old one. I also have original Hugi (Swiss) hubs & cassette on my Alex Moulton Speed, and they're better, although the bearings are lousy.Overall, great hubs when new. Just don't keep 'em for over a year. And pray you'll never need service. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Guido Kerssens
a cross-country rider
from The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: February 22, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I still have to give my Hügi Hubs the long time torture treathment, but as far as looks go, they are great.
So far they run very smoothly and make this great 'non' sound.
I've built a set of Red Hügis with black DT revolution spokes and Bontrager Mustangs. (A very light combination)
Well I'll be back after I've used them for a longer period, but for now: | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Richard
a cross-country rider
from Marietta, Ga
Date Reviewed: February 16, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I got this as part of a Mavic 517 Hugi Wheelset. I was in the market for just a King or Hugi rear hub but found a deal at Hi-Tech Bikes which sold the whole wheelset for almost the cost of just the hubs. The weight lost with the new wheelset is negligible, but they feel really smooth on uphill climbs and level riding. Some people complain about the noise of the Hugi hubs, however one can only hear it if they are riding slow or strictly paying attention to the noise; if someone is riding that slow, they did not need a Hugi hub in the first place. The newer Hugi hubs have also become more quiet. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andy
a cross-country rider
from Modesto CA
Date Reviewed: February 5, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
DT is the best! Blew the rear hub on very steep climb.Ok that don't sound the best..but I'll explain. This was a 1 1/2 year
old hubset out of warranty, that I rode very HARD. Tortured. I took the rear rim to my LBS, and found out the whole latching system was shot.They contacted DT, and honored their product and rebuilt my
entire rear hub for no charge! Just postage. I plan on buying a spare wheelset
for my Stumpy, and the hubset will be another DT. It is rare to have a company
stand by its product like this in this day and age. What can I say? If I could
give 10 Chilis I would, but instead it will be 5! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian McEwen
a cross-country rider
from Michigan
Date Reviewed: February 1, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought the Hugi rear hub four years ago for my Ti hardtail and have loved it the entire time. I liked it so much that I built up a new wheelset with front and rear Hugis laced to Mavic ceramic 517's. Sweet. I sold the four year old wheelset a couple months ago and was checking it before shipping to the guy. I scrubbed it with a soft brush, and it looked absolutely NEW, I mean BOUGHT IT THAT DAY NEW. The Bearings were so smooth that I was floored. This is AFTER FOUR years of riding. I was considering not selling the set anymore after seeing they were perfect. Try that with ANY other hub on the market. Most of them wouldn't make it four years, and I say none of them would be perfect after that much time. Oh yeah, I never overhauled them, I never even opened them up. I never needed to. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rick
a cross-country rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: January 20, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
Damn! I thought my Hugis were dead. The rear was in bad shape after four years and thousands of miles and no maintenance. Unfortunately, my shop put new bearings in and now it spins like new. Loud as ever (sorry, riding buddies). They'll probably go another 4 years now. I know that front hub will never die. Guess those Chris Kings will have to wait. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jim Milller
a cross-country rider
from Farmingdale NY
Date Reviewed: January 20, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
This is for the guy who dose abuses his stuff and rides hard ALL THE TIME!!!
These Hubs are the best and the company dose stand behind there stuff. Im 6' 230 lbs Extremest. This summer after about 200 miles on a rear hub that I bought used(so I realy do not know how many miles were on it before I got it)on a steep climb about 6 miles from the car my rear hub self destucted on the down strok. At the time the only thing I could say about a Hugi is #$@%^^&%piec of^$$%$##$ you Know what I mean.After a long walk back to the car I headed over to Bike Junkie theses guy are the best. They gave me a brand new rim and rear hub to use so I would have no down time riding. They could not repair it so they called the manufactuer who asked them to send it to them for an inspection. Mean whiel I had this white Industriy hub that sucked and did not have the feel of the Hugi. Well The boys at Bike Junkie said it would be about 2 months before I would get my hub back.Well in about 10 days my rim arrived with a brand new hub and I could not wait to ride. The first thing I notcied was how quite it was my old hub was very loud and I liked it that way. My buddys hated it. I can say that this hub has a great fell and maybe when it breakes in a little more it will get a littel louder. HUGI RULES!!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brad
a racer
from Kent, WA
Date Reviewed: January 20, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
I have Hugi Compact's on my Ti hardtail and all I can say is that they are the KIND! The hubs are three years old and have seen all kinds of abuse and hardly any maintainance not a single problem. Living and riding in the northwest these things should have had mud and water filled bearing cases and no bearings left. Not so, the Hugi's just keep on spinning round and not protesting a bit. They are light, strong and bulletproof (the clatter of the drive just anounces to the world that you have bomb hubs) I keep hoping that they will go out so I have an excuse to put on a set of king's but they won't die! And this coming from a person that takes perverse pleasure in riding in the wettest sloppiest conditions known to man. Long live Hugi Hubs! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
chuck
a cross-country rider
from MA
Date Reviewed: January 17, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
GREAT Hubs!!!!!! No problems, no hassles. A hub should go unnoticed, but work well, and these do. the latest incarnations have very a quiet mechanism, unlike earlier versions which clack-clack-clacked down the trail (at least those kept you from running over deer in the woods). My hubs had rather high quality bearings (I don't remember the brand, as I was only doing a clean up and lube job, not replacing. Imported from some fascist country). When replacing the bearings, remember that there are quite a few very good grades to choose from, just ask a machinist to get some for you (those machinists have great resources!) You'll need to know the specs on the bearings to get the right ones. All in all these hubs are truly the best. Well designed, easy to service and perfect in their performance. If one doesn't want to go shimano (which for all intents and purposes is the most logical brand to pick...let's face it, they work, and you can get spare parts in an emergency in any bike shop on the planet) Hugi are the best choice. P.S.....I don't work for DT/Hugi | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
chuck
a cross-country rider
from MA
Date Reviewed: January 17, 1999 | | Bottom Line: |
GREAT Hubs!!!!!! No problems, no hassles. A hub should go unnoticed, but work well, and these do. the latest incarnations have very a quiet mechanism, unlike earlier versions which clack-clack-clacked down the trail (at least those kept you from running over deer in the woods). My hubs had rather high quality bearings (I don't remember the brand, as I was only doing a clean up and lube job, not replacing. Imported from some fascist country). When replacing the bearings, remember that there are quite a few very good grades to choose from, just ask a machinist to get some for you (those machinists have great resources!) You'll need to know the specs on the bearings to get the right ones. All in all these hubs are truly the best. Well designed, easy to service and perfect in their performance. If one doesn't want to go shimano (which for all intents and purposes is the most logical brand to pick...let's face it, they work, and you can get spare parts in an emergency in any bike shop on the planet) Hugi are the best choice. P.S.....I don't work for DT/Hugi | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kevin
a racer
from always somewhere new
Date Reviewed: December 28, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I love my hubs. Have never had any problems with them. I think it is about time for regular maintence though, and i cant find any web pages with the 411 on these great hubs. If anyone can help i would appreciate it. If you are reading this wondering if you should get hugi hubs-- hell yes! they rule
lprcn007@hotmail.com | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Doug
a cross-country rider
from LA
Date Reviewed: December 10, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
We're riding a set of Hugis on our full suspension tandem and this hub has been awesome. Other than sounding like a chain saw rolling down the hill (good or bad depending on how you look at it), not a single complaint. Engages immediately and held up to the abuse! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Macki
a cross-country rider
from Ottawa, Canada
Date Reviewed: December 6, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I had the rear hub for all of three months when one day on a ride I heard a pop sound while climbing a hill. I thought I had broke my chain but on closer inspection I found out that the rachet system had blown on the hub. Hugi was very prompt at replacing the hub. The only problem is is that I am know very skeptical of riding Hugi stuff as there should be ABSOLUTELY no reason for a $200.00 hub to fail (hey Syncros listen up and fix your crap rear hubs). 1 chili for the hub
5 chilis for the customer serviceI ride 4 to 6 times a week, weigh 185 lbs and love very tecnical cross country riding. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
kevin queenan
a cross-country rider
from redmond, WA
Date Reviewed: December 4, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had HUGI's on my TI FAT since '95. All I have to say is that while they aren't the lightest hubs around, they certainly are the most durable and a pleasure to ride. I've been hammering on these hubs, I've also repaced three sets of hoops since then, but continue to relace the HUGIS. Forget the hype with KING hubs because they BREAK. All my friends who have kings break 'em. HUGI's seals, bearings are killer. They still spin like buttah. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
john
a weekend warrior
from so cal
Date Reviewed: November 19, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
i've had my hugi competition hubs since summer of 1996 and they have been working perfectly ever since. i have gone through many deep water crossings and i have never experienced any freewheel seizing like an earlier review. last sept i broke my collarbone and was off the bike for 3 months and there was not any seizing problem. these hubs are solid performers. very stiff and fairly light weight. i liked them so much i bought another set last year. neither pair have let me down. the new '98 hugi's are user serviceable so if you are thinking about getting a new hubset, the hugi's are better than ever. the only other hubset that i like better are the Chris Kings, but then again who doesn't like the quality of Chris' components | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Esa Jumppanen
a racer
from Finland
Date Reviewed: November 19, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Yeah outlook fine but why like secondhand ballbearings in so expensive hub. My rear started to feel very loose and 2 bearings were worn out. What a shame when I opened hub and find a taiwanese ballbearings in it. Open it if you don´t believe. Now we have winter here and I had to strenght spring that those teeth grip each others. Oil has to be very thin. Hopefully it dont run out. This hub is overrated. Thats for sure. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rick
a cross-country rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: November 15, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
These hubs are on their way out. The rear hub has side to side play and I can't seem to dial it in. Maybe I need to replace the bearings. BUT, I have had them since 1995 and have done absolutely no maintenance on them whatsoever. They have dealt with Maine mud, rocks, salt and snow and now Moab slickrock abuse. For the past 4 years, they have been bulletproof. I highly recommend these hubs! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve B
a cross-country rider
from Bensalem,Pa
Date Reviewed: November 5, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Great hubs bullet proof so far and mine have seen it all. From the trails in Pa to the sand,water and hardpack of Mi. They are a little on the loud side but that lets others know I'm coming up on them.Five turds so far! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian Lie
a downhiller
from NORWAY
Date Reviewed: October 28, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
These hubs is strong reliable and better than most! And I don`t think it is just my pair that is strong! The hubs make a stiff and good wheel and it has sealed bearings (none of the shimano`s has). And have you heard the lovely sound from the rear hub? It is FAT | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John Pentecost
a racer
from Portland, Maine
Date Reviewed: October 27, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
These hubs are pretty sweet, but far from perfect. I'm on my second set of Hugis (both FR & Rear) and after 6 years of using this product, here's my long term report:Front: Pretty good. I guess it's hard to really screw up a front hub given the fact that there are relatively few moving parts. That having been said, they seem to roll smoothly and the seals have held up well. I have noticed a bit of side to side play in both sets, and in both instances, this problem seemed to occur after about 2 years.Rear: The biggest problem I've noticed on both rear hubs that I've used in the past is that after a year or two, the freewheel mechanism will seize up if you don't use the wheel for a week or more. Also, both hubs developed side to side play, and as is the case with the front, these hubs are not user-serviceable unless you have a really pimpy set of tools (weird-o presses and and special bearing adjustment tools).Now, before you all start to get the impression that I'm some meat-fisted 200+ pounder, let me tell you that I weigh a paltry 145 lbs and almost never have ANY mechanicals (In the past two years of racing sport and training rides, I have not even had a single pinch flat with my latex tubes). So there you have it. A long-term test from a guy who doesn't abuse his stuff, has used two different sets of hubs, and has still had some weird problems. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
weez
a cross-country rider
from ames, ia
Date Reviewed: September 24, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
i've had my hugi sports laced to mavic 217s for over a year now...ride every single day (even in our salty shit winters) and haven't had a single problem with the hubs...the rims are great too. i just recently cracked a couple of the nipples (aluminum) and had to replace them for a total of $0.35. that's the only maintinence i've done in fourteen months...these hubs are bomber!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rian Dean
a cross-country rider
from cleve., OH
Date Reviewed: August 13, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've been riding a set of Hugi's for about 10 mnth's now. Every day, all winter, on and off road. I've never had a single problem. Took them apart to clean and found that I did'nt need to !! For all of you that have had problems with slipping after re-assembly... DON'T USE ANY TYPE OF GREASE TO LUBRICATE THE RACHET MECH. A thin coat of a teflon based lube is all that is needed . They will work flawlessly if you leave them alone . I give them five big burning one's !!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a cross-country rider
from Gainesville, FL
Date Reviewed: August 4, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought a wheelset from SuperGo a year ago with the Hugi sport hubs. After 2 months they began to click a little when coasting: just the grease on the ratchet aging. I weigh 220 lbs and the hub has never slipped (count them, eighteen pawls to grip with) Riding conditions are wet and sandy which has eaten up other hubs I've used but not the Hugis. SuperGo currently is selling the wheelset with a WTB rim for $159 with sqewers. I bought a back up set of wheels at that price. Simple, clean and easy to work on should you have to...otherwise ZERO maitenance. Give them all 5 flaming rats (chilis). | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a cross-country rider
from Finland
Date Reviewed: July 22, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had my hugi hubs for about 3 years now and I still think they're excellent. Recently they developed a little play so yesterday I replaced all the bearings for the first time - This was a pretty easy task and I didn't need any special tools - the whole job took about an hour. Now they're just like new again and ready for another 3 years. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hakim
a cross-country rider
from Germany
Date Reviewed: June 29, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
My Zaskar was equipped with the Hugis when I got it. For several months they did very well, I like the sound of the rear hub. Until the day, the star-ratchet slipped on an uphill because the alloy teeth were completely worn down. Hugi gave me the choice: a new hub or the money. I took the second possibility and purchased an XTR. The front hub ist doing well, and the ratchet of the new Hugis ist made of steel, so they´ll do better. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
tha Brother
a cross-country rider
from Tucson Az
Date Reviewed: June 26, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've ridden the new Hugi Sport rear hub for about 2 months now and I have not experienced any major problems. I weight 196lbs and ride aggressively through some rough and rocky terrain. But I have notice that the rear hub is no longer quiet any more and makes that noisey ratchet sound. If someone else has experienced this, please let me know. Other than that 4 chillies. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
nut
a cross-country rider
from boulder, co
Date Reviewed: June 13, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Absolutely the best hubs on the planet. Sure, like all products, one may need to be warrenteed now and then, but the vast majority never, ever have a problem. They are built like a precision watch. Buy them, ride them, be happy. Only one problem: they got rid of that cool noise they made a year or two ago when coasting.... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Mooney
a cross-country rider
from Vancouver island, British Columbia, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 11, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I bought my bike and it came with a DT)Hugi sport front hub. Very nice. VERY NICE. I have had NO problems with this baby. I ride fairly hard, up here in the mud, and root infested boonies of BC. VERY SMOOTH, VERY LIGHT, VERY SWEET. Buy one today. 5 flaming rats for this baby. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Marco F.
a weekend warrior
from NY
Date Reviewed: June 10, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I've just recently bought a WTB Speedmaster/Hugi Sport Hubs/14/15 DT Spokes...and I have to say that the wheelset is great, stays true and is pretty light. The only qualms are that the rear hub is extra silent--which for me is annoying--and that I CAN'T FIND A SINGLE REVIEW ABOUT THE HUGI SPORT HUBS????
I've even gone to the Hugi website and can't find anything there either...Do they exist? Phat wheelset though, if you've got the dough>>>go to Supergo as soon as possible. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rahman
a cross-country rider
from Surrey, England
Date Reviewed: May 2, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have only the rear hub which works superbly.... I really like the sealings which are great!!! So far, of my previous races here... I have absolutely no problem with DT Hugi hubs. You will the power when climbing uphills with DT Hugi hubs... I gave it a perfect score!!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt Cullen
a weekend warrior
from Anaheim, CA
Date Reviewed: April 28, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Based on reputation I purchased these hubs and within a month the rear ratching mechanism started to slip. I took it to my LBS and they mentioned that this is a common problem with hugi and that I would have to contact them to fix it. First of all I want to know how a company with a know reputation of having a hub slip withing the first month of purchase have such a good reputation? After I get my hubs fixed I am definately going to sell them. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
justo
a racer
from maine
Date Reviewed: April 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I just bought the latest version of these hubs...All I can say is they are the best. You can take them apart with your bare hands. The seals are (REALLY) waterproof too!!! And they come in some cool colors now as well. As for the noise...what noise? these puppies are still quieter than my whites!!!! I've had 'em for two months and so far so good!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bob
a weekend warrior
from san diego
Date Reviewed: February 16, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
bought these for durability took ot moab and blew out first day on the pracice loop on the slick rock took to shop when got home and was told it was a clutch problem that the shop fixed when got wheel home it went out a second time just trying to put a cluster on! after this took back and sent ot hugi where wheel was rebuilt have had no problems since but bring extra wheels when i go out of town for trips. In all fairness i blew out a gt hub on the same trip to moab but it lasted 5 days. im am around 220 and develop some torque is there a better hub out there | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andy
a cross-country rider
from Washington
Date Reviewed: February 5, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
These hubs are smooth and stiff, with good sealing against the WA mud. I had a problem with a slipping star ratchet and DTUSA were fantastic. They replaced the entire internals and had it back in 4 days. 5 chillies for that, but 0 steaming turds to MTBR for making a minimum word count of 50. If I want to read page after page of review, I can waste my time and money on the crap in MBA. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom Kenney
a cross-country rider
from Reseda, CA
Date Reviewed: January 26, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I just had my wheels rebuilt, and decided to get a nicer (than XTR) front hub, so I got a Hugi. It must be an older style, because It doesn't look like the picture seen on this page. I've only been for 3 rides so far, but this hub is silky smooth and seems to hold up to some abuse. I'll know for sure in a few more months.
Also, a note about cartridge bearings. I've previously owned several sets of Bullseye wheels. While the rear bearings lasted quite a while, the fronts would wear out about every 6 months. This is because cartridge bearings (generally) are not the same shape as standard cone'n'race bearings. They have much less material contacting the bearings, and are designed for vertical loads rather than the strong horizontal loads imposed upon the front wheel of a bicycle. This makes them wear out faster. When cartridge bearings are new, they're unbeatable for smooth action; they are also much easier to replace, which more than offsets the inconvenience of a few mm's of play developing over time.
For now, I give the Hugi a 4-chili rating. I'll upgrade that when I see how well this thing lasts... Maybe I'll even buy the rear hub. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alan T. Meyer
a weekend warrior
from Simi Valley, CA
Date Reviewed: December 23, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I've had a set of HUGIs on my bike since day 1 and they still continue to perform excellent. Although I don't have a lot of muddy riding in my area, I do ride hard, and I've seen other hubs go bad. These hubs require only the minimal amount of care (exterior cleaning). IMHO, HUGI hubs are an excellent choice. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Larry
a cross-country rider
from California
Date Reviewed: October 30, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Posted a bad reveiew below. Contacted DT Hugi and they fixed the problem. Happy and riding again. Changing my review to a better one. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rikk Stephens
a cross-country rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: October 27, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Just talked to Tony at Dt USA ,The phone number posted below ,and he is going to replace the star ratchet on my four month old Hugi hub.
I'm smiling again. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve Freeman
a cross-country rider
from Auburndale, WI
Date Reviewed: October 13, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Sorry to rain on everybody's parade. I have a three year old hugi hub set with XTR group. The bearings were replaced after one year of riding on both hubs, Now the cassette unit is gone out taking my hub set with it. The bearings are sticking and the housing itself is wearing smooth on the splines. The hub bearing are fine, but theirs no warrenty or cost effective service that I know of. Remember everything wears out so don't expect these hubs to be your last. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Erik
a cross-country rider
from Netherlands
Date Reviewed: October 12, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Have had Hugi hubs for over a year, replacing Shimano LX's which kept giving me problems. Hgi proved very reliable, in spite of some hard riding. Only thing is that the noise seems to get louder. How the heck do you lubricate these things? | | Overall Rating: |
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